Summary

Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne had an unusual marriage: they spent nearly every waking moment together, working side by side, editing one another's works, reviewing ideas. Theirs was a total collaborative merging of intellect, emotion and ambition that might have thrown anyone less involved into a competitive state. When John Dunne suddenly died of a massive coronary infarction on December 30, 2003, his wife was left with the impossible challenge of making some sense of the unpredictability of life's ending. For her, meaning is the result of writing and in this poignant work, she invites the stranger into her personal journey through the depths of anguish and into the light of healing.

Quotes

"Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends." (p. 3)

In preparing for a Christmas Eve dinner party: "In the midst of life we are in death." (p. 5)

"…a pledge to myself that I would not lead the rest of my life as a special case, a guest, someone who could not function on her own… About five in the afternoon on the 24th I thought I could not do the evening but when the time came the evening did itself." (p. 223)

General Themes

The story of Joan Didion's widowhood is complicated by the very serious illness of her only child, Quintana, who died shortly before the book was published. The reader is put in the position of pathetic dramatic irony in knowing what the author, at the time of writing did not know. With that knowledge comes the acute discomfort of one who is eavesdropping and intruding on the victim. Still, there is the affirmation that one as well respected for her intellect and talent as Didion can be as subsumed by denial and superstition as we ordinary folk.

What the Reviewer Liked

The very direct reporting in minute detail of the event. The touching nostalgia of unexpected joy and remorse. The need to cherish memory and try to be as honest as possible while reinventing the past.

Shortcomings or Flaws

For me, the flaws are the same as the merits of the books. It is so personal that at times, I felt like a peeping tom. Yet, I so thoroughly related to her experience (not wanting to get rid of clothes, dwelling on last year's calendar) it seemed the author and I were linked in some occult club, and she was revealing our secrets to the world. I related to the craziness of her grief, but because it was made so public, it was no longer mine, no longer unique.

Writing Style

Didion writes with a natural rhythm and fluidity that makes it a page turner. Her use of time might be difficult, still she skillfully weaves the past into the present and writes in an almost stream of consciousness style that gives the work authority.

Author Qualifications

Joan Didion is an excellent and accomplished writer with many great works to her credit. She has survived the deaths of husband and daughter and goes on working.

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Kara is the Gothic root of the word "care."
It means to reach out, to care, to lament, to grieve with.